The folk experimentalist talks about his long-running Matthew McConaughey obsession, the many uses for his home office, and his recent history of pie-eating.

Guest List features some of our favorite artists filling us in on some of their favorite things, along with other random bits. Today, we're speaking with M.C. Taylor of Hiss Golden Messenger, whose Bad Debt is out now on Paradise of Bachelors.

Favorite Actor

I've been saying Matthew McConaughey for years, but now he's all over the place and people are saying that they love him. I can't think of a time I've felt more vindicated in my life. I feel like I've been walking a little bit taller. I mean, I stuck by the guy. I had to deal with a whole lot of bullshit conversations.

Here's my thing with McConaughey: he is a confident man and he seems like he's having a good time. That's more than you can say for a lot of actors. I mean, there are a lot of ways to be an actor and he's always appealed to me because he seems like he's having a good time. I've seen the first two episodes of "True Detective" and I love it. He hasn't put the weight back on that he lost for Dallas Buyers Club, so he just looks totally intense. It's great, man! I feel for Matthew McConaughey the way people feel for their favorite basketball team.

Favorite McConaughey Role

You might just wanna go check out a little movie called Surfer, Dude. That's Surfer "comma" Dude. That is Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson together basically making an art film in 2008. And I would say that it had something to do with his career renaissance because it's a weird, bad movie that probably didn't deserve to be made, but maybe needed to be made by him for artistic reasons. It's an odd one.

My Morning Routine

I generally get up with my wife when it's still dark. If the kids are still asleep—I have a four-year-old son and a seven-month-old daughter—I will have a cup of coffee. And then the kids wake up and all hell breaks loose.

Best Thing You Bought in the Past Year

A house. It's a brick ranch-style house with a huge finished basement, so there are a lot of little corners and hidey-holes in this house. I have an office now, which I use to write, record, practice, and smoke pot.

Era of History that You Wished You Had Lived In

I am content with the here and now. I don't buy into the sort of discourse where people say, "I wish I lived in the 60s and 70s when all my favorite music was being made." I am very content to live in the fucked up times we're living in now with a perspective on those other times.

I have a lot of connections with a lot of furniture my parents owned, like a brown leather chair with brass hardware that my dad had. Now, I would say the kitchen table, not because it's particularly fancy, but because it's a place that we gather everyday just to eat and hang out. It's an old, vintage table that's maybe three by five.

Dream Collaboration

Among the dead, Karen Dalton or Curtis Mayfield. Among the living, Sharon Van Etten, Cass McCombs, the War on Drugs.

Dream Merch Table Item

A poncho, a signature chef's knife or a vaporizer. I like things with utilitarian value.

Favorite Kind of Pie

I like an apple pie. I love a berry pie. I made, for Thanksgiving, I made a honey pie, which was basically a cheese pie with lots of honey and some salt. It was a salty honey pie. It was insane.

Chicken or shrimp?

I prefer them both! If I could have a stew, tomato-based stew with chicken and shrimp, I'd feel like I had done pretty well for myself. I'm that kinda guy.